The Benefits of Using Twitter for Business

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In the modern age, we all know just how impactful social media can be. It influences our personal lives, of course, but it has transformed the world of business marketing as well. Most companies understand the value of adding social media to their marketing mix, yet when it comes to Twitter, many of them have a lingering uneasiness. Although it can be scary adding the newest social media trend to your arsenal, Twitter has many devotees within business circles, and the platform delivers outstanding results for those who use it regularly. For businesses who take the time to really understand the value of Twitter, the results are amazing, and at relatively minimal cost as well!

Speed

One of the hallmarks of Twitter is its streamlined layout and presentation. All textual content, from posts to bio material, is restricted to a confined character count. Posts, for instance, cannot exceed 280 characters. That brevity can be refreshing to new users who are all-too-familiar with the sometimes over-long messaging in Facebook or Instagram feeds. This brevity and conciseness is also a marketer’s dream, as it can work to their advantage, provided they craft their own posts in the same clean, clear, concise mode. Twitter’s brevity also means that audiences scroll further down, on average, per log-in, on their Twitter feed than they do on any other social media feed. That behavior alone tends to bring them into contact with more ads – including your ads, when you utilize that feature as well.

Layout Freedom

From pictures, to videos, to URLs custom shortened by a Twitter helper tool, a social media planner exercises more freedom on Twitter than anywhere else. This advantage is further leveraged when one takes into account the power of adding a backlink. When links are inserted into Twitter posts, the uptick in interaction and attention is significant. Meanwhile, a photo alone will give you on average a 110% increase in engagement with the post. You can also use video to expand the average time your audience will pay attention to your message, increasing engagement time from 8-12 seconds to around 30 seconds. This gives creatives a lot more room to inject some brand personality into these Tweets.

Grow Website Traffic

Not all the advantages of Twitter are measurable on Twitter exclusively. Some of the benefits of Twitter overflow to other marketing channels. Websites, for instance, can be a beneficiary of a company’s Twitter activity. Twitter is a proven performer when it comes to growing website traffic. Twitter has made it easier than ever to link from its platform to your website, or from your website to the Twitter platform. Putting a website URL into your business’s bio line, especially when the bio line (or your pinned [uppermost] tweet) includes a call to action, is an effective way to funnel traffic to your site. Another incentive for getting Twitter users to visit your website is to offer a chance at a prize. A simple, “Go to our website and subscribe for a chance to win a $100 gift card” can be all it takes to get numerous new viewers. Furthermore, Linking from your site to Twitter can also be a great way to make sure your audience is still seeing information about your company even after they’ve left your website. Twitter not only has the standard widget that you can use to link to your homepage, but it also has a button you can put on your website that allows customers to follow your page immediately without even leaving your website. Whether you’re linking to or linking from, audience engagement will go up you’ll be building a stronger customer base that has more loyalty to your brand.

Worldwide Exposure

Twitter is popular around the entire globe. Its worldwide popularity opens doors for businesses with good social media teams. Such businesses can gain exposure to markets that might otherwise be beyond the reach of their marketing budgets. The algorithms of Twitter also lend themselves to viral sharing by elevating an account’s most popular posts to positions higher up on the feeds of those who follow that account. This feature, along with the retweet function and the comment function, allows you a chance to get your best content not just to your core audience but (through social sharing) to wider and wider circles of Twitter users, multiplying your reach and possibly winning you additional followers in the bargain. However, with this global reach also comes responsibility. One of the biggest dangers on Twitter is posting something that, while it may not be insulting to your demographic, could be insulting to someone in the broader Twittersphere. The possibility exists that, on a platform like Twitter, someone will find something objectionable in one of your best-circulated messages. Such a reactionary user could start an awareness initiative designed to hurt your standing with the customers you already have as well. It always looks bad for a brand to be closed minded, shallow, or mean, so the best rule of thumb is if you aren’t sure it won’t insult, just don’t use it at all.

Brand Personality

Expanding the personality of your brand can be the single most important advantage of using Twitter. Although brand information and benefits ought be a part of anyone’s overall messaging strategy on Twitter, thanks to the platform’s higher rates of audience interaction, there is a unique and easy opportunity to imprint your brand’s personality on your followers. The single most important way to go about this is simply to make sure your social media team is responding to comments and retweets constantly, and doing so with kind and fun responses. This is especially important when one of those little crises comes along, when some Twitter user starts sniping at your business. It’s then that your followers are watching you to see how you respond. Twitter users can be more interested in how a large business handles a nasty tweet than in what the nasty tweet says itself. Here we see a similarity to Yelp, except you have the chance to instantly change perceptions with just a few sentences. It is also important to mix up your tweets with content that is not always directly business related. An interesting article about activity out in the field or an office pic celebrating the holidays can remind your following of the unique and engaging qualities of your brand. A bio is yet another great opportunity to show off the brand’s personality. This is the first thing anyone will see when deciding to follow your brand or not. Make it fun and engaging, make it highlight the benefits of your company, and make it end with a call to action, and you are likely to gain followers quickly. A great example of all of these tactics successfully working for a brand is Wendy’s. Wendy’s has been an early user of Twitter and has really done an amazing job of setting the tone for what works on Twitter. In just a few years, their witty audience engagement has turned their image from just a fast food place to a unique and engaging personality.

Social media has indeed done an excellent job of assisting businesses in growing their brand awareness, personality, and engagement. The results in creating a conversation between a brand and an audience has never been as great as they have been through social media. With Twitter being the center of this movement and creating more average brand engagement than any other, it is vital for businesses to join the excitement and create a Twitter presence of their own. Although speed, layout freedom, the linking freedom, and worldwide exposure are very helpful parts of Twitter, at the end of the day the freedom Twitter gives you to express your brand personality is the most important ingredient for businesses. We hope this knowledge will give you the confidence to create a strong Twitter presence, however we realize this is just the tip of the iceberg. So, we would like to help further in easing your fears and boosting your Twitter following. We will personally share every post we see containing @Jemully, as well as analyze your Twitter home page and your most resent three posts. We will then send you some personalized tips for improving your site. Twitter is nothing to be scared of, and with our help you will be ready to go before you know it!